Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 12, 1993 TAG: 9306120185
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: DENVER LENGTH: Medium
Two jurors said they were offended by the way the woman lives her life. The foreman said the jury didn't believe the implants caused her health problems.
The woman said Friday she will appeal.
Thursday's verdict was the first victory for Dow Corning since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last year banned the sale of silicone-gel breast implants for all but medical reasons. About 5,400 cases are pending against the company, which no longer markets the implants, and the company said it might set a precedent for other cases.
Jurors deliberated less than two hours before finding that Tammy Turner McCartney had failed to prove her case against Dow Corning and plastic surgeon Stephen Goldstein. Two of the six jurors in the five-week trial were women.
"It was unbelievable," McCartney said.
"I was hurt they didn't give me the consideration of looking at the evidence. They didn't give me anything . . . I know I was right. I know I didn't do anything wrong."
Dow Corning's lawyers focused at times on McCartney's past, and some jurors said the tactic influenced their decision. McCartney, 30, had an abortion, gave a child up for adoption and is considering reconstructive surgery for her nose.
The Dow Corning attorneys also contended there was no scientifically established link between the release of silicone in women's breasts and symptoms of the autoimmune disorder McCartney says she suffers.
Dow Corning lawyer David Bernick said Friday the victory set a precedent because it was based on science, not hysteria. He said he hopes the verdict will discourage women from filing similar lawsuits and assuage fears of other women that the implants are unsafe.
But McCartney's lawyer, Jo Stone, contended Dow's case was tried on "character assassination, not facts."
Some lawyers said the verdict could give the company ammunition to fight other breast-implant lawsuits.
"Women and their lawyers will now realize these cases can be lost. You don't just walk into the courthouse and ring up the cash register," said Denver lawyer Doug Bragg, representing a dozen women who have silicone gel breast implants.
Others disagreed.
"Ms. McCartney's lifestyle was probably and unfortunately a major factor in this jury's decision," said Steve Cook, a Boulder lawyer who handles breast-implant and other product liability cases. "I think that by and large most of the women who will have been the victims of silicone induced immune disorders are not topless dancers."
McCartney, of Denver, said she got the implants in 1987 and has undergone six operations to correct problems caused when they leaked.
Stone contended the company chose McCartney's case as part of a corporate strategy to dissuade other women from coming forward, and to reduce damage compensation in settlements.
"They have millions of women with implants out there and they have to do something," she said.
Last December, Bristol-Myers Squibb was ordered by a Texas jury to pay a woman $25 million. A year earlier, Dow Corning lost a $7.4 million case in San Francisco. In 1984 it lost another case for $1.7 million.
Jurors Gunda Nienke, 71, and Elizabeth Sturns, 76, said they were influenced by aspects of McCartney's past.
"She lied too much," said Nienke, who didn't believe leaking implants caused McCartney's disabling fatigue. "How can she go dancing for seven years and then want to do something about it?"
Jury foreman Chuck Vandevander, 30, a law student, said the jury "basically didn't believe the silicone caused her health problems."
by CNB